In Person: Covéa personal lines director Carol Geldard

Geldard on why the broker market resembles a family, acquisitions and gender diversity in the insurance sector.

She explains that Covéa only wants to work with brokers where the partnership is mutually beneficial, because that is the only way it will be sustainable.

“Any fool can go out and write motor policies and lose a lot of money but you’re doing nobody any favours if you say you’ll give a massive discount and the broker invests money to buy that business and then the year later you’ve got a massive rate increase for them.”

She likens the broker market to a family, stating there are people in your family you have a great time with, some you fall out with from time to time and some who are quite serious.

Brokers are a big part of what we do at Covéa and always will be and a lot of them are changing and evolving

According to Geldard, flexibility and really getting to know the broker and their business is important as they all work in very different ways.

In addition to working with brokers, Geldard also led the launch of the provider’s direct offering, Provident in 2016.

She explains the aim of Provident was to grow its direct arm, but insists it is also a strategic investment to learn about the market and strengthen its overall offering.

“As part of the launch of Provident we were open and transparent with our broker partners about why we were doing it, where Provident fitted and how it would be of a benefit to our overall business,” Geldard adds.

Despite Covéa’s move to strengthen its direct offering, Geldard dismisses the ever present prediction that brokers are at risk of being cut out of the market by stating that they have always been good at adapting and changing their business models to remain relevant.

“Brokers are a big part of what we do at Covéa and always will be and a lot of them are changing and evolving. At the end of the day it’s always got to be about how you create value.”

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